A Deep Dive into PC Hardware
Custom PC Builds have Changed
It used to be back in the days, before 2015 I’d say, that custom PC rigs used to be judged by 2 pure merits: how fast it is, and how flashy and over the top it looks. I used to spend hours and hours on guru3d.com looking through all the user’s incredible builds.
Like So.
The Disappearing Act
That’s all changed now, as there’s been a noticeable trend in the approach to custom PCs. As opposed to the old trend of showing off a bright, colorful, and oftentimes ridiculous looking PC, the new trend is all about making your rig as mundane and unassuming as possible. Some enthusiasts are even hiding the damned things in normal objects you’d find around a house or office.
Why?
It probably all started back when enthusiasts started making desk rigs. It was popular as early as the late 90’s, but the trend never really evolved. You might even say that the ultimate showboating an enthusiast can achieve was a good-looking desk rig.
But for the most part, they’re still show-offy. Yes it’s a PC built into a desk. But it’s very clear that it is both a desk and a PC. LED lights often adorn these custom built desks, and for the most part it was simply a PC case that acted as your desk.
Micro & Hidden Builds
Sleepers began likely as a challenge to stuff as much power into the smallest PC case as possible, and still be considered a powerhouse PC. These cases were ungodly small, but with the recent component releases that encourage modular, form factor builds, it was quite easy to fit fast-enough parts into a tiny little case. This trend is still continuing to this day.
I would definitely say people were surprised that these machines could squeeze so much power out of such a small box, and with that the challenge spread from how much power can I fit into this box, to, how well can I hide my PC among my furniture? or, How can I make a mundane and unassuming windows 98 PC into a powerhouse that rivals the best rigs around?
Now, of course, desk rigs started to change, now regular wooden desks were transformed to look like…regular wooden desks.
Custom PCs went from seeing how much power you can possibly have in a machine, to now an art-form of deception. For the first time, builders were forgoing PC performance, for PC aesthetics.
Aesthetics also seem to be a major trend, likely an off-shoot from Sleeper builds so that an artistic faux could become the new fad in the most hipster of desktop pc enthusiasts.
Like a Wine-Crate PC.
It’s no doubt that power, size, and stealthiness of builds is going to continue as a trend in PC rig challenges, and by continuing such a trend, I’m hopeful that this would push manufacturers to find more creative and modular ways to manufacture components so that more crazy desktop ideas come to fruition, not just in an enthusiast’s bedroom, but also on a factory floor.
Thanks for reading. You’re all spectacular.
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